A Supreme Court judge has found the bankrupt son of a Melbourne lawyer put "undue pressure" on his frail 93-year-old grandmother to try to get her to change her will.
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Justice Kate McMillan said Antony Guss - the bankrupt son of lawyer Joseph Guss - wanted his grandmother Neridah McInnes Brown to give him and his sister, Marilla, $500,000 each.
The judge said Antony Guss had been actively involved in attempting to get Mrs Brown to change her will since 2003, and possibly before then.
Antony Guss went to the Supreme Court to contest Mrs Brown's April 2010 will but lost, with the judge finding he had made false allegations of fraud and bullying against the main beneficiary of Mrs Brown's estate, her son, Simon.
"He [Antony Guss] used the proceedings against the plaintiff [Simon Brown] to ventilate long-held grievances and complaints concerning the plaintiff and the plaintiff's son," Justice McMillan said in a recent decision when ordering Antony Guss and his father pay Mr Brown's legal costs on an indemnity basis.
"He [Antony Guss] did this for his own financial benefit and that of his sister. The fact remains that there were no reasonable grounds at all to contest the April 2010 will or the 2007 will."
Mrs Brown died on June 21, 2010, leaving the bulk of her estate to her son Simon, while Antony and Marilla Guss were to receive $30,000 each.
Mrs Brown's daughter, Sandra, had been married to Joseph Guss, and passed away in 2005.
Simon Brown claimed his mother had had a long-term dislike of Joseph Guss and was adamant she did not want any of her assets to pass to him on her death.
"From December 2009, it was clear that the defendant [Antony Guss] and his sister were 'working towards shoring up what they perceived as their entitlement under the deceased's will' and that the defendant 'was keen to get something in place that would secure their positions,'" Justice McMillan said in her original judgment dismissing Antony Guss's case.
The judge said the signing of a new will by Mrs Brown in January 2010 - in which Antony and Marilla Guss would receive $30,000 plus 15 per cent each of the residue of the estate believed to be valued at more than $6 million - took place in "quite extraordinary circumstances, almost a hothouse environment".
"It was undertaken with a sense of urgency," she said.
Mrs Brown was in bed when she signed the document in front of Antony Guss and two other witnesses.
"The whole episode bears the hallmark of Antony Guss wanting a document in place that provided him with a negotiating tool," the judge said.
Justice McMillan said Antony Guss then told Mrs Brown in March 2010 that "it doesn't matter what you put in your will, Nan. My dad's a solicitor and we'll appeal against it and he always wins".
"The deceased thought that [giving Antony Guss and his sister $500,000 each] was not a good idea and told them she had given them enough in their lifetime and it was up to Joseph Guss to look after them," the judge said.
Mrs Brown signed a new will in April 2010 leaving $30,000 to Antony and Marilla Guss.